Volkswagen’s triumphant bid to take over luxury German carmaker Porsche marks the end of a bitter family power struggle and the start of a drive to become the world’s top auto manufacturer.
"VW and Porsche are entering a new era — the company has the means to become number one," pipping Japan’s Toyota by 2018, chief executive Martin Winterkorn said Friday at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany.
Volkswagen, already Europe’s biggest automaker, and Porsche, maker of the legendary 911 sports car, agreed to a tie-up late Thursday after nearly four years of brinkmanship and infighting.
China has rejected Coca-Cola’s planned $2.4 billion acquisition of top juice maker Huiyuan Juice, saying the deal would have been bad for competition.
The acquisition by Coca-Cola would have been the largest-ever buyout of a Chinese company by a foreign rival, but was rebuffed in what is sure to be seen as another sign of the protectionism that has been mounting globally as much of the world is gripped by recession.
Observers said China’s ruling on Coke could cut both ways in that Chinese firms that have been making increasingly high profile acquisitions abroad may run into trouble of their own.
